Chapter 49: Beaches, Sortings, and Cities Galore
The western side of Dragon Lands was covered in rocky ridges, separating the interior from the ocean. That was the terrain that the three equines and the misfit had to traverse, one being rather upbeat and optimistic compared to the rest.
“Come on, guys!” Pinkie Pie hopped happily forward. “We’re almost there!”
“You said that like half an hour ago, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash groaned, “and we’re nowhere near it yet.”
“I agree,” draconequss said, as he poked his head out of the fanny pack around the shy pegasus’ neck and wrung his mane, moisture dripping out of it. “And this head is absolutely unbearable, especially in here.”
“Relax, you two. This time we really are riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight… THERE!” The pink pony stopped in front of a tall rocky ridge that was blocking their path.
“Seriously? You want us to go over that?” Discord complained. “Why didn’t we go around the ridge in the first place?”
“Oh, you silly,” she petted his head. “We’d be hiking for hours if we did that.”
“As if this little cliff will stop me,” the blue pegasus declared, opened her wings, and with each wing beat, she lept on a ledge one after another.
“Dash, wait!” the party planner called. “Don’t go!”
“Hey, you know I can’t do much to help in this case. Besides, it was your idea to come here in the first place. So, see ya on the other side!”
And with those words, Rainbow Dash continued to leap, scaling the geological formation; it was easy enough, especially now that her wings were finally somewhat functioning, even if not fully yet. Just as she leaped onto the ledge just before the peak, she heard a low growl, only for her to freeze on the spot when she turned in its direction. It seemed that one of the elder dragons had made his home near the top of the cliff, and she landed right in front of its face. It roared, and in response, the wonderbolt screamed in panic, quickly leaping further up, as the dragon reached out with his head and tried to snap at her, following her to the top of the peak and over to the other side where he finally stopped going after her. She sighed in relief, completely forgetting for a moment that she was in freefall, and when she did, she quickly tried to slow down only to land flat into a pile of sand. After some time passed she finally raised her head, the sun blinding her until a figure stepped in its way, blocking it.
“Took you long enough,” a familiar voice said, as another figure appeared next to it.
The element of Loyalty shook her head, quickly realizing who it was. “What the-?! How did you guys get here?!”
The shy pegasus simply pointed behind her, and upon looking back, the wonderbolt noticed a hole in the cliffside.
“Maybe if you had just waited for a second, you’d have heard her say that we got “the ultimate tool”,” Discord prodded her.
That’s when she finally realized they were talking about Pinkie, and in frustration, she bashed her head in the sand several times.
“Anyways… WE’RE HERE!” the party planner announced and finally stepped away from her.
A wide sandy beach opened before them, with waves splashing on the shore. And just as Ember said, it was littered with dragons, some chasing one another, some sunbathing, others playing with a beachball, and then there were those that were swimming in the sea; the place was absolutely lively.
“Dibs on the ball court!” Dash yelped and ran off.
“Time to make a splash!” Pinkie declared, putting on her swimming gear and running for the sea, leaving the shy pegasus all by herself.
“Let’s go for a nice quiet walk on the beach, okay, Discord?” she asked, waiting for a response, but there was none. “Discord?” She poked her fanny pack, and still, he didn’t reply, so she opened it, only to discover he wasn’t with her! Where did he go?
The wonderbolt ran to where the dragons were playing with the ball, not realizing that the draconequss was holding on to her mane, determined to show off at the play. The realization of his current situation hit him quickly, as they got in the proximity of the court, the ball flew over the net, past the one that was trying to bounce it back, and straight for the blue pegasus. She managed to dodge it, but unfortunately, the former Lord of Chaos had no such luck, as the ball hit him instead of her, launching him a fair distance away before the ball finally stopped on top of him. Luckily, the animal caretaker was close by and she bumped the ball off of him.
“I don’t think in your current state you would be able to play with anyone bigger than Angel Bunny, Discord.” She scooped him up in her hooves. “Let’s start with something less active, okay?”
He sighed, disgruntled. “Okay…”
She placed him on her back and they wandered down the beach, while Pinkie Pie cannonballed into the sea, meanwhile, the ball game halted as the dragons stared at the blue newcomer. “So, which team wants to have this professional sports pony?” she pridefully asked.
The princess and her advisor returned to the heart of the crystal repository. Inside, the Dragon Lord and the former one were already waiting, the latter slouching against the cave’s wall, with a grumpy look on his face. The little dragon stopped and unfurled the giant roll like toilet paper, extending for several hooves, and then took the quill out of his mouth.
“Okay, we’re all set, you two,” she announced to the two Dragon Lands natives. “Let’s get started.”
“Yes, but where?” Ember asked the obvious question. “That Disco-Cord guy did make a valid point. There are several thousand years of messages to go through and we only have a start.”
“No worries, we just need to sort them out,” the alicorn said.
“But how, Twilight?” Spike inquired. “This isn’t gonna be as easy as sorting books. They have an author’s name, the date of print, titles, etc. How can we set the crystals apart from one another?”
“We’ll piece it together one crystal after another until we have a complete puzzle.” She looked about the cavern, and the first stone that caught her eye was pristine, transparent, almost like a diamond. “Ember,” she said as she picked it up, “let’s start with this one and see where it’ll get us.”
The blue dragon approached them, extended the bloodstone scepter towards it, and touched its surface with its tip. They waited for the crystal to respond as the previous ones have, but there was nothing. Confused, the Dragon Lord touched it again, waiting for a bit, only to be met with no response.
“What is this now? Nothing’s happening,” she addressed.
“I... I don’t know,” Twilight spoke. “We did everything as we did before, so by all accounts it should’ve worked.”
“Don’t tell me that some of them don’t even work now…” Spike wondered. “If that’s the case we might really end up looking for a needle in a haystack. And we still got no idea how to categorize them.”
“We could try tasting them.”
Everybody’s attention was grabbed by that blunt suggestion that came from the former Dragon Lord Torch, who still leaned on the cave’s wall, scratching his belly.
“NO!” Twilight yelled, before clapping her mouth shut, realizing she just yelled at him, and Spike quickly intervened to catch the crystal from falling to the ground. “I mean… We can’t temper with them. Even if by some miracle they can be differentiated by taste, we can’t risk damaging them. Even one of them could hold critical information.”
“Fine,” he grunted. “It was just a suggestion.”
The princess went into thought. Before she got anywhere, however, she heard a light tapping sound behind her, and turned a few moments later, only to find her companion’s tongue extended, dragging it across the surface of the pristine crystal.
“Spike!” she yelled and in shock, it slipped from his grip and fell to the ground. “What did I just say?!”
“I swear wasn’t gonna eat it,” he made excuses. “I just wanted to see if his theory held any water.”
“And?”
He shrugged. “I honestly didn’t notice a difference between it and any other gem or crystal… unless I can try sampling another one-“
“No!” she reiterated. “No tasting whatsoever, do you understand?!” She stopped, inhaling, then looked about and saw a small bright crystal nearby. “Okay, let’s try this one.” She lifted it in Ember's direction and she touched it with the bloodstone scepter.
The crystal glowed, and after the light passed, the familiar imagery of a giant hand whose owner could not be seen due to her size, appeared, as well as a recognizable Dragon Lord that was the first they saw earlier. Something was off, as there was heavy breathing in the air, and the smaller dragon that had just arrived at the scene looked rather distraught.
“Mother?” he asked. “Mother, what’s wrong?”
“It…” the deep feminine voice paused as it gasped for air, “it is time, I fear… My time… is nearly up now.”
“No! Mother, there must be something that can be done! I-“ he protested, only for the giant claw to reach for him and pressed one of its fingers against his muzzle.
“No, child… There is nothing you can do to stop this… All you can do… Is that you come with me… so you will know where to look for me… Aid me… when the time is right…”
“Aid you? In what?”
“In my… reawakening…” There was suddenly a loud thudding noise as if there was an earthquake and the mountain shook, but instead, they saw bits of a gigantic form pass the first Dragon Lord, disappearing behind where he stood. “Take the crystal with you,” she ordered.
The smaller dragon picked it up, and the imagery party disappeared into the ground as its recording position changed. “Where are we going, Mother?” he asked.
“To the place that only I know of… I call it the Pool of-“
All of a sudden, the projection just disappeared in the middle of a sentence and everything went quiet.
“Wait, what?” Spike tilted his head. “Why did it just stop?”
Twilight turned the crystal about, perplexed. “I don’t know, Spike. This didn’t happen before; the recording was much shorter than the previous ones. But why?”
Ember stepped closer to examine the crystal herself. She looked at the spot where it looked like it was shattered, snapped off even. And suddenly, a thought came to her mind, her gaze traveling to her sire.
“Dad…” his spawn inquired, crossing her arms. “You didn’t eat any of them before, did you?”
“Noooooo…” he extended the word longer than it should be, making it sound rather suspicious. “Well, maybe a bite or two before I decided it was too valuable for a snack.”
“DAD!” she snapped at him.
Things just kept getting messier: Her companion made a valid point that there was no clear way to tell one crystal apart from another, other than color, and that’s unlikely the indication of markings. Furthermore, some didn’t even work or were otherwise damaged either by the strains of time or somebody nibbling on them, which made things ultimately inconclusive. The princess tried to concentrate, but with the arguing noise in the background, it was rather difficult. There had to be a way to tell the crystals apart from one another; there was no way that the Dragon Lords of old would make such oversight and would be able to tell which memory crystal came from which dragon, but what could it possibly be?
There was suddenly a momentary flash that she caught from the corner of her eye, but when she looked it left her confused. There was a purple crystal lying on the ground, yet she was sure it wasn’t there earlier. And where did the pristine one she held earlier go?
“Spike, where did you put that crystal from before?” she asked.
“It’s where I dropped it,” her purple companion said.
That didn’t make sense. She was sure none of the other crystals were moved apart from the empty and the broken one, so where did this one come from? And where did the pristine one disappear to? As she wondered, her gaze kept switching between the crystal and the little dragon, and it slowly began to dawn on her that they were both the same color. Now that she thought about it, the broken crystal and the one they saw at the start had the same color, and the dragons recorded in it were the same. What if…
“Ember,” she interrupted her scolding her senior, and lifted the purple crystal in the air, “use it on this one.”
The blue dragon landed on the ground and used the bloodstone scepter once more before the object was put on the ground. The purple crystal flashed, and once the blinding light dissipated, even though she was glad her suspicions were confirmed, she was still left surprised. The image of Spike appeared, tilted since the crystal was no longer held up, tapping his finger on it. Yet as soon as he began licking it, he was interrupted.
“Spike! What did I just say?!”
That voice… As soon as it came up, the image of the little dragon dropped the crystal, and the scenery fixed itself. Twilight’s image was right there on display. And what they witnessed was the events of the last few moments playing out: Her trying to make a point that they won’t be consumed, their attempt to use another crystal, and realizing it was broken before the Dragon Lord went to chew out the former one, and it finally ended with Twilight going into deep thought. After that the imagery became distorted and the projection disappeared.
The Dragon Lord was left baffled. “Errr… how’s this possible?”
“I think I figured it out,” the mare said. “That pristine crystal. It didn’t activate because it was empty - there was no memory recorded in it.”
“But why did it activate now, and why did it change color?” her advisor asked.
“Remember the first recording, Spike? It explained that the recording starts when one taps on it. You triggered it, and it recorded what happened not long ago.”
“Okay, but do enlighten us on how that helps us?” Torch inquired.
“Easy,” the alicorn replied. “The memory crystal doesn’t only seem to record the surroundings, but also the user’s essence. In the first recording we saw, as well as the last, the crystals are of the same color, and it’s clear that the first Dragon Lord was present in both of them, meaning he likely had bright scales, which would explain why the crystal that Spike activated turned to the color of his scales. Which means…” She cast a spell, and the clusters of crystals shifted around until, out of them, several more of the same color appeared as the first one. “We know how to categorize the memory crystals now!”
The two earthbound mares traveled east, past the mountain range that was now behind their backs and deeper into the heartlands of the domain of dragons. Sun was high in the sky, which didn’t help that they trekked through the land that spewed molten rock and fire. And Applejack certainly felt it. She was used to hard-working days out in the open fields back home and they were cool in comparison. The only time she experienced something close to this was when she and her friends had to walk through the Bone Dry Desert as they were trying to get help from the hippogriffs; this was something else entirely, as the heat was coming from every corner of the land, beating on her at every move, she couldn’t imagine being able to endure all of this on a daily basis as its native residents could. She stopped for a moment, wiping thick sweat drops off her brow.
KREEEEEEEE!
A sound came from above. She looked up, and through the blinding sun she spotted a silhouette; it was a bird, a vulture. She quickly picked up the pace, she didn’t want to give it an idea that she was on her last leg so he would have a feast. In the end, though it flew far ahead of them, in the same direction they were going.
“You seem to be having a hard time, Applejack,” the shamans said as she stopped. “Say we stop so you rest your back?”
“Nah, Ah’m good,” she tried to put on a brave face. “But… you seem to be doing more than well. Ah take it you’re just used to heat by nature?”
She smiled. “I'm no stranger to the heat, though even back home it wasn't a treat. But now let's advance with care, burns won't cure themselves with only air.”
The orange pony knew too well what she was referring to. As they got closer to “the Ol’ Rager”, the geological formation became rather imposing at this distance, all the while vast magma lakes surrounded it, and the two would have to traverse them. Easier said than done, as they had to keep a good distance as they moved through the borderlines, trying to make sure not to lose balance and drop inside, and it didn’t help that intense heat was rising from the lakes, increasing the temperature from earlier when they were still just under the sun. And the workhorse had to take it all - not a small feat. She stuck close to the shaman, who despite her claims from before, seemed to be holding well on her own. Unfortunately, her perseverance faltered for a moment, as the strength in one of her legs slipped for a moment, and when she tried to quickly recover, the edge of one of the lakes gave out, making her slide off with it. She screamed, and just before she went over the border, she stood still, looking into the impending boiling doom under her, with only her hind legs standing on the very edge of the slope. Yet she didn’t fall in, as the zebra managed at the last moment to bite down on the clump at the end of her tail, and then slowly dragged her out.
The pony sighed in relief. “Thanks, Zecora. If ya hadn’t been here I’d have ended up more fried up than one of Apple Fritter’s fritters… when she has a bad day.”
“Were you not here to watch my back my resolve might have gone slack,” she answered. “Though the only other time when the heat was to be beat, I recall was in the boundary of Musa's foundry.”
The orange mare nodded, and then stopped after she processed what she heard. “Sorry, the what now?”
Zecora stopped. “Forgive me, I suppose my words are lost on one whom my land they haven't crossed.”
“Ya know,” Applejack suggested, as she removed her hat to wipe her brow, “if it’ll keep this heat away, I’d very much like to know what it means.”
She giggled. “I will indulge you, stick close and carry on within view unless you want the event of before to renew.”
A camel trade caravan traveled back and forth to the furthest parts of Farasi, their trade route. And right now, they were on their way to the far eastern part of the land. The place they would have to traverse was narrow, as the mountain ranges on each side created a funnel through which the sea winds rushed in, creating sandstorms that obscure the visibility of any creature that tried to push through, save for them. However, they were not alone this time, as a pair of unexpected travelers joined them on the journey to the kingdom in the far east; the high shaman, and his youngest filly, who was not so small anymore, and at an age when rebellious nature began to crop up.
“Are we there yet?” Zecora asked.
“Your question will be answered as before, there are still many steps to travel in store,” her father responded.
“When will we get there?” she groaned. “We’ve been on the road for three days now. And why did we leave the rest of the tribe at Mount Chinjaio?”
“The trade route only extends three ways; too many of us can’t travel through the heat and haze. Hence we carry the goods to them and in exchange receive our pays.”
“Then why did I have to come along? I was hoping to spend some time with Imari since I hardly see him.”
“You're growing tall and strong in your own right, but you've yet to visit every corner of Farasi which doesn't appear in sight.”
“Fine…” she groaned. “But what is this place we’re going to?”
He only smiled. “It's best you see with your own eyes, my words might make them seem like lies.”
It frustrated her. She wanted to know why this place was so special, but he just refused to give her an answer. Yet she was determined for somebody to give it to her. She quickened the pace to the front of the camel herd, only to stumble backward, as the sandstorm only got more intense and she was enjoying the protective shielding that their much taller companions were providing.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, little girl,” a voice said, and Zecora quickly noticed whose it was.
At the head of the herd, a sole camel trot. She could hardly see his features through the intense sandstorm, all that she noticed was a flowing white cloth on top of his head, held together by a string. She quickened up again, this time standing behind his rear to make sure the swirling sands didn’t get to her again.
“Mister Tajir? I want to ask something,” she spoke up.
“Of course, you do,” he answered. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have left the safety of the caravan.”
“What is this place we’re going to?”
His head turned back for a moment. “You want to know about the capital of the kingdom of Musa? You should wait and see it for yourself. Mere words would make it seem untrue to you.”
“Fada already said that!” she complained. “But I still want to know what’s so special about this kingdom.”
“You still want me to indulge you?” he questioned, only to see her nodding. “Very well. Beyond this sandy valley, there is a spring that provides fertile grounds for a vast settlement. A settlement full of towering spires, and streets full of vibrant colors and bliss unparallel.
“And why do your people visit this city?” she inquired.
“Ah, a very good question, little one. Kelpie’s Carthage forms the largest of the three kingdoms, one where creatures of all kinds can live together and are blessed by Watami’s presence. Abadas of Chinjaio are provided the most fertile ground in all the land, gaining them bountiful harvests every year. But Musa… Musa possesses things that other kingdoms are unable to provide because they lack a certain SPARK of innovation and as a result the natural material that they were able to acquire.”
“Natural material?” the zebra wondered. “What kind?”
“Well, you’re wearing one right now.”
She looked over herself; besides the saddlebags, the only thing she had on was the four sparkling rings that adorned her neck and left leg. Was this what he was referring to? Before she could inquire further, however, the wind went silent and the constant sand sprinkling ceased. The sand storm had ended and over the ridge, she could see the light. They finally arrived at their destination! She advanced but stopped after she realized the rest of the travelers weren’t following her.
“Okay everybody!” the leader ordered. “Set up the camp! Tomorrow we’ll descend into the valley below to the city!”
Zecora was left confused. “Wait what? But we still have daylight! Is the city still that far?”
The caravan leader chuckled. “That’s not daylight, dear. That is the power source that is generously provided by the king. And it will go out the moment he drops off for today. Which should be happening right about…”
And as he spoke, the zebra noticed the light over the ridge dim, until it disappeared, entering the twilight hour.
“What did I tell you? In any case, even if we went there now, they won’t let anyone in. We’ll spend the night out here and make our way to the city in the morning.”
She pouted. She was hoping to finally see what all the fuss was about and she got denied.
“Zecora, don't pout and sit! Come and help with the fire pit!” her father ordered.
The night has fallen upon the camel camp, and the fire had slowly died down, leaving only a few flickering embers. The entire herd was fast asleep, including the High Shaman… but not his foal. She couldn’t sleep, the desire to know why they were so vague on details was frustrating her. And in the end, the curiosity got the better of her; day or night, she was going to see what the big deal was. She made sure that everybody around her was asleep and then slowly traipsed out of the camp and climbed the rise. When she finally got to the top, she could only describe it as a disappointment: She could hardly see anything at all, as whatever the structures in the distance were, were obscured by a mountain ridge behind it, and the only thing she could see was the stars reflections on the water surface. She had to get closer, yet as she did, the atmosphere around her started to feel rather foreboding, as the towering structures obscured the starry sky, removing what little light they offered. She could only see the vague outlines of the buildings so she could move through the empty streets without crashing into anything, but it helped little; she could see anything special… but she did hear something. It sounded like clanging chains, soon to be accompanied by the sound of hooves, and they were approaching her location. Whoever or whatever it was, she didn’t want to be found and she quickly scurried into a nearby narrow alley and went silent, trying to slow down her breathing. And then she saw them; a pair of silhouettes as they passed by, stopping in plain view of her.
“Did you hear that?” one of the voices said.
“Eh, it’s probably just some vermin scurrying about,” said the other.
“What if some dangerous beast came into town?”
“Please, rookie,” the other voice scoffed, “you’re being too paranoid. Hardly any beast would dare to come near the city, whether in day or night.”
“So why are we here then?” the naïve one wondered.
“To enforce the curfew of course,” he answered. “The city’s hardly gonna run on time if somebody’s gonna make a ruckus and keep others from sleeping. Now come on.”
And the sounds began to disappear in the distance. She sighed in relief and began to rethink the previous decision. Perhaps it would be better to go back to camp and just wait out the night. Before she could get around it though, as she stepped back onto the main street, something caught her eye. A light! She could see a single spark of light in this city of darkness in the distance. Her curiosity drive kicked in again, and instead of going back, she proceeded, picking up the pace until it turned into a gallop.
Some time passed and it became apparent that the light source was not actually IN the city, but outside, on the other end of it. A tunnel was dug into the mountainside and there was intense light coming out of it. She slowly walked in and trotted through it for some time, slowly realizing that the deeper she went, the heat kept climbing, and by the time she finally got to the end of it, she understood why. A vast room opened up before her, strewn with mining wagons and chains, and in a pit below there were numerous stone crucibles, containing heated-up liquid, as they spilled out into the bolds below them to form ingots. She went further and then stopped, quickly hiding behind some mining carts when she heard voices below, and spotted a pair of zebras coming out of one of the shafts.
“Ugh, I hate overtime shifts…” one agonized.
“Same. But at least we can finally hit the hay. Good thing there’s still enough energy left here because I’d sure hate to push all those carts manually,” the other responded, and pushed a nearby lever, causing the nearby carts to move forward into the shaft from which they just came.
“Wait…” One stopped. “What about those up there?” He pointed to where Zecora was hiding.
“Yeah, yeah, calm your mane,” the other answered. “Already on it,” and proceeded to push another lever.
There was a clanking sound. The tracks under the little zebra suddenly trembled, but the carts where she was didn’t move. Then she heard a loud sound coming from behind her, only to turn and discover carts were coming down from the hill where she came from! In a panic she quickly lept out of the way and grabbed onto the nearby chain that was hanging by the edge, only for it to clang and quickly lowered itself, stopping with full force, causing Zecora to slip down to the very end of the chain, barely managing to hold on as she dangled over one of the giant crucibles that still contained boiling liquid. In the moment of panic, she screamed, causing the two workers below to finally take notice of her.
“Hey! What’s that kid doing here?!” one guard yelled.
“Quick!” the other urged. “Move the chain before she gets fried!”
The worker ran to pull the lever by the crucible, but when he did nothing happened. “No! We just ran out of power!”
“Girl, don’t move we’ll think of something-!”
But the words of the foundry worker would be for naught. She couldn’t hold on to the slippery chains and she could feel the intense heat from below rising. After a few moments, the last link finally slipped from the grip of her hooves and she fell, screaming in terror as she fell to her burning doom.
KRAKOOM!
The was a clashing sound and all of a sudden, the little zebra found herself unharmed, suspended above the boiling crucible. She felt a tightening feeling around her waist and noticed there was a golden chain with a trident head attached to its tip, and it trailed up the ledge where she was before, and another zebra was standing there, gripping the chain with his teeth. He had a cowl with a golden band around it to keep it fastened, and wore a sash, but both articles of clothing were sewn from a golden fabric.
“A storm guard!” one of the foundry workers shouted in relief.
The guard trotted backward, pulling her back to the solid ground. Once she was finally out of danger, he untied the chain.
“You two close the place down already,” he ordered to the workers. “I’ll escort her home.” And with that, he put one of his hooves over her shoulder and guided her out of the foundry.
“Rarely are my instincts wrong. It’s a good thing I went to confirm my suspicions, even though my partner told me otherwise,” the guard said as he led Zecora through the darkened city. “Were I not there, you’d have probably ended up like a fine statue. Now, tell me where you live. Your parents are probably waiting for you.”
The entire time she was quiet, and it took a while for her to speak up. “I don’t live here.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean you don’t live here? You’re a zebra, you’re in the city where all zebras in Farasi come from, of course, you live here. Or are you simply saying this because you don’t want your parents to get angry that you broke the curfew?”
“No. I’m serious: I don’t live here.”
“I see…” he paused and stopped, holding her in place. “If that’s the case, I’ll just have to take you to the captain and you’ll spend the night at the station, and he’ll decide what to do with you. Is that what you want?”
A cold sweat washed all over her; this was more trouble than she had bargained for. She didn’t expect to get caught by authorities, and now, no matter what she chose, she would end up in trouble. Was there nothing that she could do?
TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT!
A loud honking sound suddenly echoed throughout the city, and it was obvious that this wasn’t normal, as the storm guard freaked out, jumping back, and letting out a yelp. What it was, she didn’t know, but she was quite aware that the guard was at a distance. She didn’t want to face her father’s wrath. It was now or never. She dashed away.
“Hey! Stop!” the guard called after her and quickly pursued her.
They zig-zagged through the streets, and it quickly dawned on Zecora that he could hear her gallop and that’s how he followed her. After a quick corner turn, she went still, and the storm guard went right past her, while she tiptoed away. The guard, however, stopped when he realized that his target had disappeared, unaware that she was sneaking past him not far away in the dark. Yet just when she thought that the darkness will provide her with the necessary coverage, there was a sparking sound coming from his direction, and a light source began to light up. From the cover she spotted how the gold chain he was carrying became charged with lightning, lighting up the surroundings. She was trapped! There was no way for her to get out of the cover without him spotting her and if he does… what’s stopping him from tossing the chains at her, as she remembered how quickly he intervened back at the foundry.
“ADIL!”
The guard jumped at the sound, noticing another zebra guard approaching him from another direction.
“Where the heck did you go?!” he scorned him. “We’re not supposed to separate until the end of the shift, rookie!”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, “but I just had this nagging feeling like something was off and I went to check on it. And I was right! One of the kids was breaking the curfew and she nearly fell into the foundry’s crucible!”
“Really now?” the other guard said in a suspicious tone. “And where is she now?”
“I was going to take her to the station since she didn’t want to speak where she lived, and then that weird sound came and it startled me. And I got so distracted that she ran off, and I lost track of her,” Adil explained. “Speaking of which, what was that thing?”
“That loud honking sound? A foreign vessel just landed in the harbor. But never mind that. Describe that girl for me.”
The rookie halted for a moment, wondering what to tell him that it wouldn’t sound weird. “She was… bare.”
“Come again?” His partner raised an eyebrow.
With the light from the electrified chains dimmed and the two guards distracted by the conversation, Zecora slowly crawled away from their position and out of the dark city. Finally, on the settlement’s outskirts, she once again went into a gallop and didn’t stop until she climbed over the ridge where the camel camp was, only to end up being short on breath. She simply dropped from exhaustion into her sleeping bag and hoped that by tomorrow nobody noticed anything happened or that they had just plain forgotten.
“Wake up, Zecora, no time to fuss,” a voice gently called her. “Tajir’s herd already went ahead of us.”
She shuffled under the cover. After the last night's experience, the last thing she wanted was to get up, even if the light was so bright; it felt as if she hardly slept.
“Not yet, fada,” she moaned, still half asleep. “I’d rather have the scorching sun at my back than to endure its light right now…”
“You are wrong, little one. What’s trying to wake you is not the sun.”
She must’ve misheard it, so she pulled the cover off her head and looked over to the ridge, where she saw the light gleaming over it. “What do you mean it’s not the sun? What’s the light then?”
The High Shaman chuckled. “Follow me north, then you’ll finally see what wonder did the light bring forth.”
What was he talking about? She couldn’t understand, and with what she saw last night, the place was rather unimpressive. Nothing could change her mind about what the city was like. She crawled out of her sleeping bag and slowly climbed the hill. As she did, however, she began to hear sounds coming over it; it sounded like the plucking of strings, drum beatings, and timbila being played. She finally got over the top, and she had to shield her eyes from the blinding light, taking a moment for them to finally fully awake and adjust, and after that happened, she finally looked upon the valley… and was left in awe.
“Welcome to the city of Mansa, Zecora. The capital of the Kingdom of Musa,” her father announced. “Let us descend to the valley below, there its wonders to you I’ll show.”
To the far western side of the valley, there was a lake, whose excess river spilled forth towards the glimmering sea, creating the lush river lands that could support a vast settlement. And her father was correct: The sun hasn’t risen yet, its first rays were just now beginning to peek over the horizon. The source of this light, however, was something else entirely. Flying in the air before her, was a giant yellow orb; it wasn’t the sun, it wasn’t even made of fire, no – she could see sparks flying off it and tendrils skittering all over its surface. This conjuration was made entirely of lightning, and it was illuminating the entire valley; some very powerful creature was responsible for constantly maintaining it. A city of spires sat underneath the ball of lightning, their tips covered in a reflecting metal that was constantly being stroked by the tendrils. Now she also noticed that there were numerous people out in the street. Without uttering a word, an invisible force drew her forth, and her father followed. Once she was on the streets of the city, it was unrecognizable from what she initially saw. Zebras. Zebras everywhere, going about their business, dressed in colorful clothing, women carrying their little foals in the saddlebags as they went about the market stalls, men boisterously talking and laughing. She went by one of the open houses and saw residents cook food in a lit area, even though there was no fire around. But most of all, the markets contained objects made of irons; copper, steel, silver, and even gold in large supply. Unlike the other two kingdoms she had visited, this place was unparalleled.
Something still made her wonder. “Fada, what is that giant orb above the city?”
“It is the source of the kingdom's power, its existence ensured by its king, who lives in the yon tower. The energy radiates from above the city, its residents employ it to make life less gritty,” he answered.
She suddenly remembered what the caravan leader told her the day before, and now she understood what he meant. It all made sense now.
Suddenly, a galloping sound interrupted her marveling. From the opposite end of the street, she saw stallions galloping in her way. She recognized their outfits: They wore the same things that the guard yesterday did when he apprehended her, and they were charging her way. The familiar cold sweat rushed over her at the thought that the guard last night reported to others and they finally found her. She was about to run, only to see them run past her. She sighed in relief… but too soon.
“You!”
She remembered that voice all too well. She slowly turned and before she knew it, the familiar stallion was within reach of her.
“You really thought you wouldn’t get noticed if you walked down the street?!” he yelled.
His voice finally caught the attention of her father as well, and seeing him rush in, he stepped in his way, causing him to stop before him.
“Sir, are you the father of this child?” the guard inquired, and he simply nodded. “Just so you know, sir, your daughter broke the city’s curfew last night! Not only that, she entered the foundry where she nearly fell to her doom were it not for me to save her!”
“I understand,” his gaze glanced behind her, “thank you for letting me know firsthand.”
“Hold on sir,” he wasn’t finished yet. “She broke the curfew under your care, which means you too must be reprimanded. As soon as the captain comes-“
“Stormguard Adil!” a yell traveled down the street and the said stallion quickly shut up.
Heavy stomps were head coming down the street that he came before, and a tall zebra dressed in green fabric, wearing a chainmail shirt made from pure gold over it.
“C-captain, I’m glad you came, sir,” he said nervously. “This is the child I reported about the night before. Now that we’ve got the father as well, we should-“
“Spare me your righteous speech, Adil,” he brushed him off, “or I’ll have you patrol the mountain range next time.”
“S-sir? W-what did I do wrong?” he stuttered.
“What did you do wrong?! That’s the High Shaman you’re accusing!”
He was about to say something, then stopped, his head turning to Zecora’s father, then back to his superior. “The… the High Shaman…? Y-you mean the one whose tribe is-“
“Yes, Adil, THAT tribe. Or is the fact that he’s the only zebra in Musa that’s walking around nearly bare, with a rear print, not an obvious proof?”
The guard sunk his head in shame. “I… I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t know…”
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” he motioned to the two. “Go on.”
Adil slowly turned, his head still lowered. “I’m… sorry.”
“Good,” he said before a sudden sound of clashing thunder echoed in the sky, and he quickly reacted. “Move it, all of you!” the captain ordered. “We’ve got an incident to contain!”
And the Stormguards moved down the street where the previous group went, leaving the father and daughter alone. She was sweating, dreading what he would do next.
“I would have been most upset,” his head turned with a glare, “were I unaware of the troubles you tend to beget.”
She gave him a surprised look. “You… you already knew?”
“My slumber broke in the middle of the night, I looked around, but you had taken flight. Though demise by foundry, it escapes my imagination's boundary.”
“But… then why didn’t you say anything?”
“I wanted to see for myself. If the burden of guilt was too great to bear, you'd confess, and lay the truth bare.”
She lowered her head. “I’m sorry, fada.”
He put his hoof on her head and ran it down her mane. “I'll forgive you today, but in the future tame your curiosity so as not to stray.”
She was silent for a moment before speaking. “So long as the place doesn't impress, to the point, I'll soon be in distress.”
The elder zebra let out a laugh and soon she joined. They proceeded to move, the little zebra still admiring all the wonder that the city had to offer. After some time, however, her ears picked up on the sound of a rumble going on, and it was coming from the direction in which the city guards have gone. With her parent’s attention diverted elsewhere, she trotted off to have a closer look, wading through the crowd that had gathered around to inspect the event in progress. The storm guards have chained up an equine creature. It looked weird to her: He sort of looked like a zebra, but he didn’t possess any earthly colors like them, having a teal coat instead, and his clothes also seemed alien, nothing like it anything in Farasi. Suddenly there was a thundering sound in the air. The sound of crashing thunder erupted and, in a flash, a tall figure stood near the edge of the crowd. Zecora recognized him, even though she’s seen him only once as a child, she would always recognize this tall, imposing, masculine figure – King Abraxas.
“Your Majesty.” The captain of the guard bowed his head. “We’ve restrained the outsider.”
The giant zebra approached the small equine being. “Who are you, outsider? Who sent you?”
“I-i-i-I’m Seasaddle, sir,” he answered in a jittery tone. “I’m from Equestria, and I had to make port since my trade ship got damaged in a storm.”
“So you claim,” the king looked at him with a disapproving gaze. “And what exactly were those things that you released into our city?”
“Sir, I did not release anything,” he protested. “One of them must’ve stowed away on my ship and it was eating my supplies. They’re-“
“Pestilence? Is that what you were gonna say?” the captain intervened. “They were. They ate up nearly half of the food that was stored in the granary before his majesty disposed of them.”
“I swear, I’m as surprised they were here. I swear, I never had any intention to cause harm to you people!” he excused.
“That remains to be seen,” Abraxas ended, before turning to the subordinate. “Captain, do your duty.” And with a flash of lightning, the ruler of Musa disappeared, leaving his storm guard to clean things up.
“Wha-what are you gonna do to me?” the colorful equine asked.
“We’re placing you under arrest, outsider, until further notice,” the captain stated. “Until we strip your vessel apart and make sure none of those things are left. Guards! Take him away!” The crowd parted, as a handful of guards pulled the chained stallion away. “The rest of you, go search the ship! Leave no plank unturned! If even one of those creatures manages to slip away, whoever finds it… will spell doom upon them.”
With those words, the rest of the guards, along with their captain, departed, and the crowd dispersed. Zecora wondered what had happened; had she arrived earlier, maybe she’d have seen it, but she was still bed-bound because of the night before. Now she was angry at herself for going out. She was about to depart and join her father when…
Purri!
She stopped, she heard a strange chirping sound nearby and saw a tiny shadow move in the shade of a nearby basked at the weaver’s stall. She moved closer to have a better look at it. The creature she saw was unlike anything she saw: It was a small round purple ball with big teal glistening eyes, and it had tiny wings – it was the most adorable thing she had ever seen.
Purri!
“Aww, hello, little thing,” she addressed it. “Why are you hiding in there?”
She crouched closer, trying to reach for it to gently stroke it, and it rubbed against the soles of her hooves. It suddenly hopped off along the length of her leg and crawled into her saddlebag that was now resting on the ground with her. She got back up and looked inside, seeing the innocent little creature snugging in the fabric that served as her sleeping bag.
“Don’t worry, little thing,” she told it. “When we get back home, I’ll take good care of you, I promise.”
“Zecora!” a familiar voice called to her, so she put the saddlebags back on and ran off.
"Zecora?" Applejack interrupted her.
She made the shaman end her story - after all, they arrived at their destination. They passed through the numerous magma lakes, and now they were at the threshold of the giant gaping maw. And the former Dragon Lord spoke truly: Had this been a volcano, they would be staring in the blazing inferno, but instead, they were met with an impenetrable darkness, they couldn’t see a thing. They slowly walked in, and Zecora started to rummage through her saddlebags to try and find something for a light source when they suddenly saw something in the darkness. It was a green glow, going back and forth.
“What the hay is that thing?” Applejack wondered.
Whatever it was, it must’ve heard her, as it suddenly stopped and then started to look as if it was vibrating and growing, when in fact, was coming closer. They didn’t know what to expect, but by now the zebra had pulled out her lantern and turned it on, and illuminated the figure that approached them. It was a dark purple teal-maned unicorn mare with glasses, carrying saddlebags, and she covered her face from the intense light.
“Miss? Who are you?” the workhorse inquired.
She didn’t answer, and instead, put down her saddlebags and rummaged through them, before pulling out a small laminated card with her picture and name. “Whimsy Windsdale. From Equestrian Astronomy Institute.”
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This is the story of how Zecora brought ruin to her home town.
Changeling or pony, changeling or pony?
11329919
CHANGELINGS! Changelings everywhere!!!
why does this chapter feel like a must-have beach episode in the series? Of course, Zecora's childhood misadventures are interesting, but I don't have the feeling that this is plot important information. The only line that I liked the most here is the Twilight line. (here is the funniest moment with Spike who decided to try the crystals.)
11330560
Trust me, it's ALL plot relevant. If I've learned something, don't put something in the story unless there are story-relevant reasons for it.
But true, I suppose maybe things could've been a bit better written, but as I said, my creative sense was a bit off this time as I've had priorities elsewhere. I'll try to make up for it.
11313425
It's strange. I've always considered Chrysalis to be the one least likely to play along with others being the most independent of the group.
Cozy Glow and Tirek are more willing to observe others around them and to take their clues from them.
Chrysalis by contrast is incredibly straight forward, almost always seeking to dominate a situation by herself. It's been interesting seeing so many characters turned on their ear.
11330660
On their ear?
11331790
Is that not the correct turn of phrase?
The city of Musa..
Whoa nelly that really showed what stuff the zebras have in their culture/civilization. It really showed it good.
Too bad for dragons, they just live in barren caves/land with no civilization/culture/architecture with the only thing magical/mystical is the Bloodstone Scepter and Spike's fire breath(though the crystals here and Dragon Mother is helping to show more, though that is not enough alone)
Speaking of dragons, I am wondering even more now on what will the Mother Of Dragons will lead to.
Things are really getting juicy on dragon lore.
Too bad we got cut off for now since Torch apparently nibbled on the crystals back then.
With how much hidden knowledge was lost due to that oaf had seen them as snacks, Torch needs to get chewed out for that(someone other than Ember doing it).
I am guess that little thing Zecorable err I mean Zecora had found was a Parasprite.
So that explains why she knew much on them in Swarm Of The Century. Personal experience X_X
11332072
I honestly don't know. XD
11332192
The Kingdom of Musa. The city is named Mansa.
And ye, zebra's have a lot to offer, it's odd that Zecora's tribe doesn't though.
We'll get more dragon lore soon.
And... yeah🐞